Reactivity of Isomeric Picolines in Oxidative Ammonolysis on a Vanadium Oxide Catalyst

The reactivity of isomeric picolines in their oxidative ammonolysis on a vanadium oxide catalyst, as measured by the rate constants of cyanopyridine formation, increases in the order 3-picoline < 2-picoline < 4-picoline. Correlations were found between the mentioned rate constants and the gas-phase basicities of the starting compounds, with σ constants characterizing electron-acceptor properties of the nitrogen atoms, as well as the deprotonation constants of the methyl groups of picolines in the gas phase or bound via the nitrogen atoms with clasters modeling Brønsted acid centers of the vanadium oxide surface.